Rice noodles

Rice noodles, or simply rice noodle, are noodles made with rice flour and water as the principal ingredients. Sometimes ingredients such as tapioca or corn starch are added in order to improve the transparency or increase the gelatinous and chewy texture of the noodles. Rice noodles are most common in the cuisines of China, India and Southeast Asia. They are available fresh, frozen, or dried, in various shapes, thicknesses and textures. Fresh noodles are also highly perishable; their shelf life may be just several days.
History
The origin of rice noodles dates back to China during the Qin dynasty when people from northern China invaded the south. Due to climatic conditions, the northern Chinese have traditionally preferred wheat and millet which grew in cold weather while the southern Chinese preferred rice which grew in hot weather. Noodles are traditionally made out of wheat and eaten throughout northern China so to adapt, northern cooks tried to prepare "noodles" using rice, thus inventing rice noodles. Over time rice noodles and their processing methods have been introduced around the world, becoming especially popular in Southeast Asia. In India, idi-appam, strings of cooked rice, was known in ancient Tamil country around 1st century AD, as per references in the Sangam literature, according to food historian K. T. Achaya.
The shelf life may be extended by drying and removing its moisture content. Studies of drying rice noodles were conducted by the International Food Research Journal.
Varieties
Round thick varieties
Bánh canh – thick Vietnamese noodles. The Vietnamese word bánh refers to items such as noodles or cakes that are made from flour, and canh means "soup."
Lai fun – a short and thick variety of Chinese noodles, also referred to as bánh canh by Vietnamese
Nan gyi – large thick round rice noodles used in Burma
Nan lat – medium thick round rice noodles used in Burma
Silver needle noodles – a variety of Chinese noodles. It is short, about 5 cm long and 5 mm in diameter. Similar to Lai Fun but has a tapering end resembling a rat's tail. More commonly known as silver needle noodle in Hong Kong and Taiwan, and rat noodle or "mouse tail noodles" in Malaysia and Singapore and Locupan in Indonesia. They are also known as pin noodles. In Thailand they are known as Giam Ee noodles.
Flat thick varieties
Bánh phở – thick fresh rice noodle used in popular Vietnamese phở noodle soups.
Shahe fen/chao fen/chow fun – wide chinese noodles. Also known as shahe fen / he fen (Mandarin), ho fun, hofoen, hor fun, sar hor fun, etc (Cantonese), kway teow, (literally "ricecake strips" in Minnan Chinese) or Sen Yai
Migan – type of rice noodle from the Dai people, a Tai cultural group from Yunnan Province, China. It is made from ordinary non-glutinous rice. It is primarily defined by its relatively broad and flat shape
Juanfen – similar to Migan
Sen lek – narrow flat rice noodle in Thailand Used in such dishes as pad thai, Sukhothai rice noodles and in noodle soups. Its full name would be kuaitiao sen lek
Nan byar – flat rice noodles used in Burma byar/pyar means flat.
San see – sticky flat rice noodles from Shan State of Burma
Guay jub / kuay jab / kuai chap – Thai rolled rice chips or rice flake sheets
Thin varieties
Khanom chin – fresh, thin rice noodles in Thai cuisine which are made from rice sometimes fermented for three days, boiled, and then made into noodles by extruding the resulting dough through a sieve into boiling water. Burmese mont bat (မုန့်ဖတ်) or mont di (မုန့်တီ), are similar to this.
Rice vermicelli – thin strips, sometimes referred to as rice sticks. Also known as bí-hún, bīfun, bíjon or bihon, bee hoon, bihun, num banh chok, bún, mee hoon, Sevai and Sen Mee
Others
Mixian – a type of rice noodle from the Yunnan Province, China, made from ordinary non-glutinous rice. In many areas there are at least two distinct thicknesses produced, a thinner form (roughly 1.5 mm or 0.059 inches in diameter) and a thicker form (roughly 3.5–4 mm or 0.14–0.16 inches in diameter).
Pasta made from brown rice flour is also available (in health food stores in Western nations) as an alternative to wheat flour-based noodles for individuals who react poorly to gluten.
Dishes
Burmese
Baik kut kyee kaik
Kat kyi kaik
Kyar san kyaw – ‘Kyar zan’/‘Kyar san’ means ’thin noodles’ in Burmese, and ’kyaw’ means fried. It is made with thin rice noodles, vermicelli and various vegetables, chicken, pork and seafood.
Kyay oh
Meeshay
Mohinga
Mont di
Nan gyi thohk
Nanbyagyi thoke
Rakhine kyarzan thoke
Shan khauk swè (similar to Yunnan mi xian) – a "soup version" of meeshay without gel, and fish sauce instead of soy sauce, with flat or round noodles, where the soup is part of the dish itself, rather than as consommé. Also known as Khaut sew or Shan style noodles, these are, thin noodles served with a peppery soup topped with either chicken or pork and pickled vegetables.
Cambodian
Kuyteav
Num banhchok
Chinese
Beef chow fun
Cart noodle
Chao fen – Also known as Chow Fun in many Chinese restaurants in North America
Clay-Pot Lao Shu Fen
Crossing-the-bridge noodles
Laoyou rice noodles
Luosifen
Mixian (noodle)
Rice noodle roll
Singapore-style noodles
Filipino
Mami bihon
Pancit bihon
Pancit choca
Pancit luglug
Pancit Malabon
Pancit miki-bihon – round egg noodles with bihon, a hybrid type of stir-fried noodle.
Pancit palabok
Pancit sinanta – consists of flat egg noodles, bihon, clams and chicken, with broth colored with annatto and served with pinakufu, a variant of dango
Indonesian
Bihun
Bihun goreng
Bakso
Ketoprak (dish)
Kwetiau ayam
Kwetiau goreng
Kwetiau kuah
Kwetiau Medan
kwetiau sapi
Lakso
Soto
Lao
Feu or Fer
Khao piak sen
Khao poon
Khao soi
Khua mee / pad lao – Savory, sweet, caramelized fried noodles, traditionally topped with a fried egg omelette. It is the equivalent of pad thai in Thai cuisine
Mee ka tee
Malaysian
Char kway teow
Kway chap
Laksa
Mee siam
South Indian/Sri Lankan
Idiyappam
Sevai
Singapore
Beef kway teow
Crab bee hoon
Hokkien mee
Katong laksa
Satay bee hoon
Thai
Khanom chin
Khao soi
Kuai chap – it is a soup of pork broth with rolled up rice noodle sheets (resulting in rolls about the size of Italian penne), pork intestines, "blood tofu", and boiled egg.
Kuai tiao khua kai
Kuai tiao nam tok – noodle soup darkened with raw blood
kuaitiao ruea aka boat noodles – Boat noodles have been served since the period of Plaek Phibunsongkhram in 1942, and were originally served from boats that traversed Bangkok's canals. Type of the noodles for boat noodle are several, thin rice noodles, egg noodles, sen yai (wide broad rice noodles), and sen lek (narrow flat rice noodles).
Mi krop
Nam ngiao
Phat khi mao
Pad thai
Phat si-io – stir-fried noodles in dark soy sauce
Rat na – gravy noodles
Sukhothai rice noodles
Vietnamese
Bánh canh – Vietnamese soup with thick rice noodles
Bánh cuốn – sheet of rice flour filled with spiced minced pork and mushroom
Bánh hỏi
Bún chả
Bún bò Huế – rice vermicelli in soup with beef, lemon grass and other ingredients
Bún kèn
Bún mắm
Bún ốc
Bún riêu – rice vermicelli in soup with crab meat
Bún thịt nướng
Bún quậy
Cao lầu
Gỏi cuốn / Summer roll
Hủ tiếu – A version of kuay teow that became popular in the 1960s in Southern Vietnam, especially in Saigon. There are different types of noodles for Hu Tieu, such as soft rice noodles, egg noodles, or chewy tapioca noodles.
Mì Quảng
Phở
See also
Vietnamese cuisine
Noodle soup
References
Noodles
Vietnamese cuisine
Rice dishes